Host St. Clair beat the varsity boys 76-41 on Monday. It was score similar to that of their first meeting, at Cleveland back on December 20, but head coach Mike Meyer didn’t think the Clippers’ effort was there in the second encounter.
“We kind of showed up not ready to play. It takes 40 minutes, but we didn’t have it tonight. We showed a short burst of energy at the end of the second half, but that was about it.”
The Cyclones, who beat the Clippers 74-36 earlier in the season, put in a three for the game’s first basket and never looked back. Blake Lyons took a Jorden Rossow pass up and in, but the Cyclones scored the next six points before Kale Kelley stole and drove the floor for a layup.
Lyons put in a free throw, but St. Clair went on a 16-point run after that. Later in the half, Rossow and Lyons each hit a three and Gabe Sullivan (on the drive above) made a pair of freebies and a jumper, but the Cyclones led 43-19 at the break.
“As soon as they went on their first run, we kind of folded,” Meyer said.
Lyons added 11 points in the second half. Sullivan hit a three, Rossow had a three and a two-point basket, but the Cyclones kept the pressure on. Brady Bostic took a Kelley handoff in for a bucket for the game’s last basket.
“At halftime it seemed like they had some energy, and they came out and did some stuff right right away in the second half, but they couldn’t get shots to fall, and they let that get in their heads” Meyer said. “I think tonight was more of a mental loss than a physical loss.”
With 21 points, six of them coming from behind the arc, Lyons led all players. Rossow had a pair of threes and a two pointer for eight total points. Sullivan had a three, a two and a pair of free throws for seven points. Kelley added three points. Bostic had two points off the bench.
“They have to show up to practice tomorrow, and hopefully Thursday and Friday’s games are better stories,” Meyer said. “We have to take advantages of the practices we have because we don’t have many. It’s good to learn from games too, but where we are as a program we need as much practice time as we can get too to work on fundamentals that will help us win some games or at least be competitive in them.”
The Clippers made six of 16 free throws. The Cyclones arced in seven three-point baskets and made 15 of 21 free throws.
The Clippers were coming off an 80-56 loss in Alden on December 17. They trailed the Knights 45-23 at halftime.
“It another slow first half; the second half we played really well. It’s a tough gym to play in. We had our B squad for fans, and that was about it. A couple of parents made the drive, but Alden had a full gym. It definitely was a home-court advantage.”
Lyons had a career-high 25 points with one basket from behind the arc. Rossow had a trio of threes and two pointer for 11 points. Sullivan had eight points. Kelley had seven points. Kyle Connor had three points, and Nathan Strobel had two points off the bench.
The Clippers were successful in eight of their 14 free throws. The Knights put in a trio of threes and made 11 of 21 free throws.
The Clippers didn’t rebound as well as they were capable of, Meyer said, just like against St. Clair.
“There were definitely guys who after I got on them started to get their bodies into them (the Cyclones). They started showing they could box out the way we teach them, but it’s just a matter of doing it right away. When you are young, it is easy to get defeated if the score gets to be a big gap.”
A day before their Alden game, the varsity Clippers lost 84-31 to host Lester Prairie. The Clippers trailed 43-21 at the break.
Lyons led the effort with 18 points. Kelley added half a dozen points. Rossow had a two and the Clippers’ only three for five points. Connor contributed four points. Bostic chipped in a bucket off the bench.
The Clippers made nine of 19 foul shots. The Bulldogs dropped in nine threes and 14 of 29 free throw attempts.
The varsity boys will look to enhance their game on Thursday when they host a rematch against Alden-Conger.
“I think we’ll have a good game against them,” Meyer said.
Blake Lyons towers a jumper.
Jorden Rossow looks for a familiar face in a crowd.
Kyle Connor coils for a jump shot.
Kale Kelley hammers through traffic.
Alex Johnson stretches for a block at Lester Prairie. (Photo courtesy of Patty Sullivan)